Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) held a press conference on the 27th, announcing that there is an elliptical hole with a maximum diameter of about 3 meters at the bottom of the pressure vessel of Unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which suffered a core meltdown.
In March this year, TEPCO sent an ultra-small drone into the bottom of Unit 3's reactor pressure vessel to capture images. Video footage obtained at that time showed a hole at the bottom of the pressure vessel, with what is likely to be post-meltdown nuclear debris attached to it.
According to reports from Kyodo News, Fukushima TV, and other media on the 27th, a three-dimensional restoration and analysis of the interior of the reactor was conducted based on the images taken by the drone. The results indicated that there is a hole with a maximum diameter of about 3 meters at the bottom of the pressure vessel.
Due to the combined impact of the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami, core meltdowns occurred in Units 1 to 3 out of all six units of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, producing about 880 tons of nuclear debris. This debris is highly radioactive, and how to remove it is considered the greatest challenge in the decommissioning work at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
TEPCO plans to begin large-scale removal of nuclear debris from Unit 3’s reactor as early as the 2037 fiscal year.